Mapmaker(s): Minister X
Number of Territories: 105
Special Features: none
What Makes This Map Worthy of Being Made: With 105 terts there would be only 20 larger, and of those only the largest, "Hive", is hex-based or geometric/abstract. Yet Hive is fairly popular. By employing a torus or donut-shape I make the trip from one end to the opposite difficult. Despite the large number of terts the nomenclature is as simple as could be and players will be able to find 14-B or 29- D in a flash. Though the bonus amounts may seem counter-intuitive at first glance, they are based precisely on the bonus calculation spreadsheet. Yellow is worth so much because it's bordered by so many potentially hostile terts. Players will have to think hard about which bonuses to pursue.
Map Image:
[bigimg]
[/bigimg]I've always liked the "Chinese Checkers" map. There's an advantage to a symmetrical map if your goal is balanced play and maximal elimination of luck on the drop.
This "thick circle" geometry allows for lots of free-wheeling maneuver despite that big black impassable in the middle. But it also means that bonus values are high and tactics will be based less on pathways than on other things. If we want to reduce bonus values and make navigation more difficult we can add lines of impassibility. The obvious places for these are between light blue and either/both purple and light green, and/or between yellow and tan. That would reduce the tan bonus to 2 and would probably reduce others by one as well (I can recalc).
Colors are tentative. A check will have to be made as to whether they are okay for those with various forms of color blindness.
This map is 800 pixels wide by 769 high. I can't for the life of me figure out how that's possible since there's more space above the overall hex than on the sides. Yet the big hex looks perfectly even. But it's not. I checked. The hexes are higher than they are wide. Yet if you tilt you head to, in effect, make different sides "up" it all looks the same. An optical illusion??
I'm posting this in the Melting Pot instead of The Drafting Room because I recognize that this is a pretty funky idea and that abstract maps aren't everyone's cup of tea. I'll be interested to see what if any reaction it gets.
At least the font I used for the title should get an A+.
